Wuxi has surpassed Suzhou to become one of China's top three cities for house price growth, according to data released by China Index Academy on June 1.

The month-on-month growth rate for May saw Wuxi property prices rise by 4.06 percent, ranking the city third in national real estate growth behind Xiamen and Hefei.

Though total prices rose, statistics from the real estate trading center on June 6 showed that average property prices per square meter fell in May to 8,473 yuan ($1,290), 0.12 percentage points lower than the previous month.

Data also shows that the city's property market started to warm up after the Spring Festival, which has seen new home sales hit a record high. Property transactions reached one million sq m both this March and April. In May sales reached 972,500 sq m, up 37.24 percent on the previous year.

Experts said that due to the city's huge stock of unsold houses it took on average at least 20 months to clear inventory in previous years, but the figure has fallen to only nine months by the end of this May. Top-tier cities like Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing have tightened policies to curb speculative purchases and contain bubble risks, while second-tier cities like Wuxi and third-tier cities are exploring new ways to spur sales. In this respect, new house prices are expected to see further increases in the near future.